Sustainable utilization of waste and industrial non-core materials

SUSBIO aims at added sustainability in the food value chain referring to agricultural production, food processing, logistics, consumption and disposal of a product including both solid waste management and waste water management. The added sustainability is achieved by improved material efficiency in the whole food value chain and by fractionating value-added components from edible materials and utilising all remains in biofuel production to replace fossile fuels. Presently the biofuel industry applies single raw materials such as rape and palm oil and other agro-products instead of the less valuable materials and biowaste. The field is also dispersed in terms of the production processes. Due to the profound differences in biomaterials, the optimisation of biofuel production process in terms of the raw materials and and process parametres is essential for both feasibility and yield. Uutilising the non-core materials produced by the food industry and agriculture will effectively reduce the biowaste load. A reduced wasteload also means reduced emissions in air and water.The key activities in the project involve first (WP2) the mapping of the different sources of raw material and of the available technologies for the separation of the biocomponents on one hand, and for biofuel production on the other. This research phase sheds light on the prospects of the effective implementation of the new EU Directive on waste management on the industrial level. It also adds to current knowledge and research efforts on traceability in the municipal waste management as to quality and quantity. WP3 focuses on the separation of the value-added ingredients from the edible parts of biowaste before biofuel conversion. These value-added biocomponents (e.g. fatty acids, plant-based protein) are then deployaple in food and feedstock production, improving the nutritional value of end-products. WP4 applies the results on material balance to testing the feasibility of different raw materials in biofuel production.This includes conversion of fats and oils into biodiesel and testing the applicability of glycerol, a sideproduct of biodiesel, in biogas production. In WP5 tests the feasibility of different raw materials in biogas production. Process parametres produced in WP4 are transferred onto the pilot level, which are then up-scalable to industrial use. WP5 will produce the guidelines and a feasibility study for an integrated biofuel production. The new integrated technologies improve the sustainable utilisation of waste materials. This project finishes with summarising the sustainable route and its feasibility from waste and other non-core materials to bioenergy processing.

The project SUSBIO demonstrated how the environmental load can be reduced in the Central Baltic Sea area and how both sustainability and profitability can be improved in the food value chain through material efficiency and the proper handling of material flow. The project mapped the various sources of raw material and available technologies for the separation of bio-components and biofuel production. This was done by laboratory work that researches the separation of ingredients from the edible parts of biowaste before biofuel conversion. A research team also tested the feasibility of various raw materials in biofuel production. The project will finish with summarising the sustainable route from waste and other non-core materials to bioenergy processing.